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Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried.

Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by.

Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're 16, and you have nothing and everything to lose.

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.

Quick review

Rowell manages to capture the uncertainties and overwhelming nature of young love in this novel starring Eleanor and Park (bet you didn’t guess that!). The constantly switching points of view draw you in and let you fully experience the romance. She brings to life various social issues that many people have to deal with and aren’t often included in novels, especially all at once (even though they represent the reality for many), such as poverty, domestic abuse and racism. Rowell proves herself a mastermind at writing deep, complex and unique teenage characters that you will feel like you genuinely know. A great read for fans of contemporary(ish) YA and feels.

Not so quick review

In my last review, I said the author suffered from “the curse of the child narrator”. This is when an author chooses to narrate from a child or young person’s perspective, but either comes across as too mature or too immature. Either way, the result is jarring and detracts from the story. Rowell definitely does not suffer from this curse. In Eleanor & Park, she demonstrates that she understands how adolescents think and talk. Not only that, but she is able to write in the voice of two different teenagers, of different genders and backgrounds. My imaginary hat goes off to Rowell.

Young love…

When the book starts out, you know very little. Rowell doesn’t drop a whole lot of information on you in the first chapter or two, like other stories do. Instead, as you see the world through the eyes and minds of the two characters, you slowly acquire various different puzzle pieces. This continues throughout the book, only being given information when its necessary for the plot. It’s quite refreshing, and it is definitely a great way of keeping the reader intrigued. Rowell keeps you guessing, feeding you little clues as time goes on, so what starts out as a blurry (but beautiful) image slowly comes into focus. (But it doesn’t focus all the way – curse you, Rowell!)

Eleanor and Park start out as strangers to each other, and their relationship slowly builds during the bus rides to and from school. Unlike in many other books, there is a very slow, gradual change in the status of their relationship. Rowell shows just how much she gets relationships, especially first loves – the nervousness, uncertainty, insecurity on one hand, and then all-consuming desperation on the other.

I also want to pull out another type of relationship she understands: the ‘first boyfriend/girlfriend’, or practice round. Park mentions his ‘first’ girlfriend only in passing, but it stood out to me because it’s so true. Can you remember being a young teen and having your first boyfriend, or what you thought was a relationship? I had a ‘boyfriend’ (again in quotes because it was such a non-relationship) when I was 14. We held hands and ‘dated’ for a week, after which I said the whole thing was a farce and gently dumped him. He proceeded to (that same evening) ask my friend out. They made out, and my pride was hurt but not my heart. I didn’t have a boyfriend again until I was 18 (I’m a very picky nerd), and the differences between the two relationships are enormous. That guy in 9th grade definitely does not count as a real boyfriend. How many of you have had a practice relationship when you were younger?

Let me go back to Rowell and her masterful ways. I want to thank her for writing characters that did not necessarily conform to gender stereotypes. In fact, they were written like normal people, and as such, I could identify with both Eleanor and Park. It’s not often I read a male character that I can really connect with in that way. Sure, I read a lot of great male characters, but they’re usually very masculine, and I crush on them instead of empathising with them. (Though I did crush on Park quite a bit. Hand massages are my kryptonite.)

I also loved how Park was mixed-race and struggled with his identity. While I may be all-white, I’m half-German and half-South African, and yet I feel like a foreigner everywhere I go due to my expat upbringing. South Africans think I’m British or American, and I can’t even pronounce my German surname properly! I could relate to not knowing where I fit in.

Rowell created a tough world for the characters, with domestic and sexual abuse, poverty, racism and bullying. She managed to shine a light on the everyday experiences of teens living in these conditions, and their behaviours were completely believable and heartbreaking. (A big contrast with Capturing Jasmina…) You hear about things like domestic abuse, but it’s hard to imagine the day-to-day existence, or what it does to victims, especially over extended periods of time. I’m curious as to how Rowell managed to write so expertly about so many difficult experiences without experiencing them herself.

My one and only frustration with this book is the ending, and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. Rowell ends the book on a cliffhanger, and she does it on purpose without any apology or intentions to continue the story later. She says its because young people don’t have endings – they have beginnings. I will admit to dabbling in a bit of fanfiction just to feel satisfied, not left dangling in the wind.

After reading Eleanor & Park, I’m eager to read Rowell’s other work. I’ve already got Fangirl lined up, and I’ve heard great things about it. Of all of Rowell’s books, which do you think is the best?

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